13 ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes We Hope You Never Need

With over 68,000 new ICD-10 diagnosis codes that have been given to the world, chances are that a few of them are going to sound a little strange, a little unusual, a little “has that ever happened?” Like …

W22.02XD Walked into lamppost, subsequent encounter

Subsequent encounter refers to the second time an individual had to see a physician about their injury, not that they walked into the lamppost twice. We hope.

C80.929A Occupant of animal-drawn vehicle injured in unspecified transport accident, initial encounter
So … if someone fell from a reindeer sleigh. Hopefully no jolly men dressed in red need this code in a couple of months.

W59.22XA Struck by turtle, initial encounter
You are probably aware that turtles can’t move very fast. So the only thing we can figure is perhaps this is for when birds pick turtles up and fly up high with them, before dropping them in hopes that they’ll crack the turtles shell to be able to eat the reptile.

W88.8XXA Exposure to other ionizing radiation, initial encounter
Gamma rays, X-rays, and the higher ultraviolet part of the electromagnetic spectrum … or Kryptonite, perhaps?

T43.615A Adverse effect of caffeine, initial encounter & T43.616A Underdosing of caffeine, initial encounter
It’s possible to have too much caffeine, or too little, and there are codes for both.